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Ancient Ones
The Ancient Ones (aka Ancients) are credited with being the oldest race in the Green Isles though none exist in the present time. Other races referred to as ancients, also lived in other lands of Daventry as well, though had slightly different cultures, but what most had in common was their use of technology. Background They were an advanced civilization, which using intellect, created the Cliffs of Logic, as a test to those worthy enough to master the riddles chiseled onto its face. The Ancient Ones' culture inhabited the Isle of the Sacred Mountain perhaps as much as a thousand years before Caliphim's rule of the Green Isles. It was a time before the "kingdom"; the Ancient Ones existed alone in the sea. The Ancient Ones had an advanced, mysterious culture. They possessed knowledge and mechanical acuity far surpassing anything that exists in the present Kingdom. Much is still unknown about the Ancient Ones. Scholars of the Winged Ones painstakingly sift through the few documents they have obtained to learn more of this race from which they believe they may have come. It is believed that Ancient Ones achieved flight without wings. It is a matter of much debate whether or not the Ancient Ones themselves possessed the power of flight. Despite their theology, the remains of the Ancient Ones do not bear the wings that distinguish the Isle of the Sacred Mountain's current inhabitants. The Winged Ones firmly believe the Ancient Ones flew without wings, thus proving themselves superior even to the Winged Ones themselves. Some scholars on the Isle of the Crown, however, believe that the Ancient Ones could not fly, and that their obsessive interest in flight and their secret knowledge enabled them to create a winged race, the descendants of whom are the Winged Ones. Ah, but such things we will never know for certain, for true understanding was buried along with the last of that long-dead race. The Ancient Ones were already legend when people first withdrew from the Other World, and were the precursors of the Winged Ones. These now-dead creators of the winged race have left the remains of their great works scattered all over, and below, the Isle of the Sacred Mountain. They live only in these, and their writings.KQC3E, 276 Many were buried in the Catacombs of the Ancients. The artifacts of the Ancients Ones are fiercely guarded by the Winged Ones and are studied by scholars of that race who spend their whole lives trying to unravel their mysteries. The ancients spoke and wrote in an ancient variation of the common language of Daventry; they used two alphabets: one that was essentially the same as more modern version of the language and another that was more runic and used for ceremonial purposes. Culture The Ancient Ones were believers in the power of of language. It is also known that they were great lovers of symbols and had a complex theology which seemed to worship all things aerial. The Ancient Ones gave meaning to every creature, every color, every element and mineral. In addition, they studied the emotional states of being. Every emotion, like every creature, color, and element, ranked high or low on their theological scale--the lowest being "base" or "primitive", the highest being "pure". At the top of scale were the Sacred Four. The Ancient Ones used two scripts the alphabet of the Ancient Ones which was used primarily for ceremonial purposes, as well as a version of the alphabet in the common tongue of Daventry, a style archaic and fabulously ornate and all run together.KQC4E, pg 276 Behind the scenes The concept of a mysterious extinct highly advanced civilization that left mysterious ruins and mechanisms behind is extremely common in science fiction, fantasy and folklore. The fact that Ancients were already legend by the time the first withdrawal began suggests that the withdrawal occured less than 1000 years before KQ6. The Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles suggests that Ancient Ones were still around about 1000 years before KQ6. The Ancients may be divided into four separate subcultures each representing the four elements. Those living on the Isle of the Mountain primarily tied to the element air. Those whose civilization is now buried beneath the Realm of the Gnomes appear to represent earth. Perhaps those who lived in the desert of Serenia and wipes out their civilization with a great conflagration represent fire. Tanalore which may be the source of the water of the waterfalls and the great swamp may have once represented water! It may also be the only ancient city in which the ancients may still exist (as it is called an 'eternal city'). The Ancient Mariner (if he is an ancient) may be from the race that represents water. Although he does not show any technological advancement, he is learned in medical secrets of the sea. Another possibility is ancient city of R'lyea under the sea where the old god Cthulhu lies. The ancient culture in The Desert of Eldritch also appears to have based its culture around water (there god having the ability to purify salt water), although it exists in another world in the multiverse. It is said that the cairn of green stone was built by a people long ago vanished from Daventry. Perhaps this founding race were Ancients as well. Ancients (unofficial) The Ancients tie into the plot of AGDI fan games, see Ancients (unofficial). References Category: Ancients category:KQ6 Category:KQ8 Category:Withdrawal Category:Ruins Category:Technology Category:Languages